Means for regulating multiple drive units



Oct. 30, 1962 R. l.. SHALLENBERG MEANS FOR REGULATING MULTIPLE DRIVEUNITS vm ma N mm m d vm um om mm EZ 5 m f3 m Wd NQ Nm. Mm. 14h.. irl D0% m P m L o QQ QQ @Qmt .wm mm wk mm R vm mm mh in e oo NE n: rmt 70 wvw mv n NQ wmv. R\- m op 1, @u mm s y a S m um vN\ NN\\ y, o F *N m whm.wk n: mz uw# mw? 5%.. .,r NT mw? S Unite States Filed May 31, 1960,Ser. No. 32,805 11 Claims. (Cl. 1S0-12) This application refers tocontrol means for drive units and in particular means for regulating orsynchronizing the speed of multiple drive units.

In vehicles having one engine to drive its front axle and another engineto drive its rear axle, it is desirable to regulate the speed of oneaxle with respect to the speed of the other axle in performing thevarious operational activities of the vehicle.

It is therefore a general object of this invention to provide controlmeans for drive units.

-It is another object of this invention to provide means for regulatingor synchronizing the speed of multiple drive units. l

It is another object of this invention `to provide means for regulatingthe speed of multiple 'engines in response to external loading on theground engaging members ein-I ployed on a vehicle. Y

It is another object of this invention to provide means for regulatingthe speed of one engine driving one axle of a vehicle with respect tothe speed of a second engine driving the other axle of the same vehicle,

Still another object of this invention is to govern the speed of anengine driving one axle of the Vehicle With respect to the speed of asecond engine driving another axle of the vehicle while the vehicle isperforming a turning movement.

Still another object is to reduce the speed of one vehicle axle relativeto the speed of a second vehicle axle in proportion to the amount of avehicular turning.

A still further object of this invention is to provide control means forcontrolling the speed of an engineV operating a front vehicle with thespeed of an engine driving a rear vehicle which is pivotally connectedto the front vehicle in order to synchronize the speed of the respectivevehicular axles.

It is still a further object to provide a control means for regulatingmultiple engines on a vehicle in order to etect the relative speeds ofcomplementary multiple ground engaging members of the vehicle.

yt is still another object of this invention to provide drive unitsynchronizing speed responsive means for preventing the speed of oneaxle on a vehicle from exceeding the speed of another axle mounted onthe vehicle when the speed of the one axle is aected by a change inground traction.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent fromthe foregoing drawings and specilications wherein:

FIGURE l is a side elevational View of a vehicle having a pair ofengines for driving the front and rear axles thereof; and

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic view of the engine speed control systemincluding the engine speed control and its connection with each of theengines and cam means effected by vehicular turning.

Now with particular reference to the drawings therek is shown an earthWorking vehicle or mobile scraper unit 2 having a front section or cab 4carrying the operators seat 6 and operator controls 8 and a rear sectionor unit or scraper bowl 10 in tandem relation to front section 4. Thecab section or unit 4 has a front power source of engine 12 for drivinga drive train including axle 14 and ground engaging means or wheels 16(right stent side of tractor 2 not being shown) through a conventionaltorque converter 18. On the front vehicle portion or unit 4 and behindthe seat 6 is the spindle yoke assembly 20 carrying spindle or pivotmember 22 to which is rotatably connected the member or tongue 24 ofygooseneck 26 which is coupled to a reach member 28 connected at 30 toscraper bowl 32 of rear vehicle portion or unit 10. The scraper bowl 32has a front part 34 pivoted at its rear about axle 36 which driveswheels 38 by way of conventional torque converter 40 and engine or powersource 42.

The structure of the load scraper vehicle 2 having the self-poweredtractive unit 4, 10 described above is conventional and serves to permitengines 12 and 42 to drive their respective sections 4 and 10 which forturning purposes pivot with respect to each other about pivot axis 26for permitting cab 4 with its ground engaging members 16 to becometransverse to scraper portion 10 and its ground engaging members 38.

Below and forward of the operators seat 6 is an engine speed controlmember or accelerator pedal 44 which increases the speed of -bothengines proportionately to the extent that the operators foot depressessuch throttle pedal 44 downwardly about pivot 46 and contacts a pressureregulator valve 48 on the cab 4 which valve 48 has a conduit 50 incommunication with a source 52 of fluid 53 under pressure which may takeany conventional form such as an air compressor or any gas or liquidunder pressure developed by a pump. `The fluid pressure control valve 48has a uid line 54 leading from it for conduction of the uid 53 underpressure to a coordinating means or an engine control or pressurebalancing valve assembly 56 mounted on the yoke assembiy 20.

The balancing assembly or unit S6 comprises a housing 58 having a bore60 carrying a valve stem 62 having three axially spaced lands 64, 66 and68 deiining chambers 70 and 72 therebetween communicating with the fluidlines 74 and 76 respectively. The valve stem 62 is centered within thebore 60, as shown in FIGURE 2, by means of counter-balancing compressionsprings 78 and 30 at opposite ends of the bore 60, the spring 78 beingbetween one end of the bore formed by the housing 56 and the outsideface 81 of the land 64 and the spring S0 being between the outside face82 of the land 68 and a wall 84 of a hollow member 85 abutting andconnected to the housing 58, said spring 80 being sleeved over anextension 80 of the valve 62 projecting outwardly from land 68 andthrough the hollow member S5.

In its normal or equilibrium position, as shown in FIGURE 2, the valvestem 62 has its land 66 centrally aligned with annulus formedapproximately midway in bore 60 permitting communiaction of line 54 withlines 74 and 76 and lands 64 and 68 blocking olf communication of vents92, 94 with the bore 60 and the lines 54, 74, and 76. The wall 84 withwall 96 and cylindrical Wall 98 of housing 85 form a fluid receivingchamber 100 and the extension 88 passes through the bore 102 in wall 84and chamber 100 and has journalled on it a flexible diaphragm unit 104dividing said chamber 100 into subchambers 106 and 108, the diaphragm orflexible member 104 being centrally held in chamber 100 within bores107, 109 in wall 98 and being substantially parallel.

to walls 84 and 96, the subchamber 108 having fluid line 110communicating therewith and subchamber 106 having uid conduit 112communicating therewith.'

Fluid lines 74 and 76 communicate respectively with throttle controlmeans or engine speed reducers 111, 113 in the form of fluid controlcylinders 114, 116 operating pistons 118, to move fuel injection pumpcontrol levers 122, 124 of engine injection pumps 127,

1,29 and elect the amount of fuel supply to engines 12, 42. Lines 11i)and 112 are in fluid communication with ground speed responsive means ordrive train speed sensors `123 and 125 including pressure fluid sources126 and 128 respectively which may be variably pressurized by anyconventional means such as gear pumps driven by the output shafts of thetorque converters 18 and 40. Under this construction, variation in thespeed of the wheels 16, 38 results in variation inV iiuid pressuresdeveloped in the output speed sensing means or speed sensors 123, 125.

The extension 88 of the valve 62 has a portion 113i) extending throughwall 96 beyond the housing 85 and has at its outer end 1311 a camactuated means or roller 132 for engagement with a cam means 134 mountedon the tongue 24 and having earn surfaces 136, 137 and clearance iat 139formed on the trailing unit tongue 24.

The engine speed control means or balancing valve means 56 operates asfollows: When the vehicle 2 is driving in substantially a straight pathand neither front nor rear sets of wheels 16, 38 are slipping, the sameamount of fuel is delivered to both engines 12, 42 in view of pedal 44and pressure regulator 48 which deliver the same fluid pressure througheach line 74 and 76 to throttle cylinders 114, 116 as the plunger 62 hasits middle land 66 located centrally within annulus Si() as shown inFIGURE 2 and the speed sensors or output speed responsive means 123, 125maintain the same equal liuid pressures in both chambers 106, 108.Through the amount of iiuid pressure in lines 74, 76 increases andconsequently the amount of iluid pressure in chambers 106, 188 withincrease acceleration by movement of the pedal 44, the valve stem 62will still maintain this balanced or neutral position. However, if therear Wheels 38 of the vehicle should slip and therefore spin faster thanthe front Wheels 16, this would result in an increase in the speed ofthe torque converter output shaft of torque converter 40 actuating thesensor 125 which would cause an increase in pressure in fluid chamber106 relative to the pressure in fluid `chamber 108 thus causingdiaphragm 104 and the piston stem 62 to move yto the left as viewed inFIGURE 2 blocking line 54 from line 74 and allowing the fluid or air 74to vent through line 92 to the atmosphere or other lower pressure sourceand at the same time land 66 would be blocking line 74 from uid pressureline 54 allowing piston 116 to move to the right and decrease the speedcontrol setting of engine 42 with consequent reduction in the speed ofthe wheels 38. Similarly if the front wheel 16 should slip as thevehicle traverses along the ground, the output shaft of the torqueconverter 18 would speed up and cause an increase in pressure in chamber108 to move the plunger 62 to the right opening line 76 to vent passage94 leading to the atmosphere and at the same time land 66 would blockline 76 from iluid line 54 with resultant drop in the speed of engine 12and wheels 16.

If the operator wishes to turn his vehicle to the right or left vthespeed of the rear wheel 4would vbe reduced with respect to the speed ofthe -front wheel as follows: As the driver turns steering wheel 8 to theleft as viewed from the top of vehicle 2 shown in FIGURE l, the cab 4would pivot about axis y23 carrying with it the cam roller 132 in acounterclockwise direction causing the roller 132 to engage the camsurface 136 moving the plungerV 62 of the valve means or speedproportionalizing means 56 to athe left as viewed in FIGURE 2 resultingin reduction in speed of rear engine 42 Iand wheel 38, the greater theextent of the counterclockwise movement of the cam roller 132 thegreater the movement of the valve member -to the left and the greaterthe reduction in the -speed of engine 42 and associated wheel 38. Thesame result occurs when the steering -wheel 8 is turned to the right.Thus it is seen that as turning of the vehicle is increased, reductionof speed of the rear wheel 38 is also increased, so that a full turnwill result in the rear engine being at idle without any drive beingimparted to the rear Wheel 38.

To allow for free action of the piston stern 88 to control slippageoverspeed of one axle relative to the other in straight or nearlystraight operation, and -to elect the slowing down of the rear axlerelative to the front axle when making small turns of say 25 or less,the cam 134 is designed to clear roller 132 until the turning angle ofthe cam 134 exceeds a value of approximately 25 in the clockwise orcounterclockwise direction for righ-t and left hand vehicular turns-because the cam 134 presents the iat surface 139 opposed to and removedfrom the roller 13-2.

While the device has been shown ,and the structure described in detail,it is obvious that this invention is not to be vconsidered as beinglimited to the exact form disclosed, and that changes in detail inconstruction may be made therein within the scope of What is claimed,Without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A vehicle comprising vfront and rear por-tions articulatelyinterconnected on substantially a vertical axis for turning movements,camV means carried by one of the portions, valve means carried by theother portion in controlled relation by the -cam means and having aneutral position, an independent wheel driving power source carried byeach portion, each power source having throttle control meansoperatively associated with the valve means, a source of pressurizedliuid communicating by way of the valve means with each throttle controlmeans in the neutral position of said valve means, and the valve meanshaving a discharge passage and having a cam operated member havingengagement with the cam means in another position of the valve meansblocking communication between the throttle control means on the otherportion and the source of lluid and opening the throttle control meanson the other portion to the discharge passage to reduce fuel andthrottle down the power source on the other portion to facilitateturning of the vehicle.

2. A vehicle comprising a. plurality of portions drivinglyinterconnected with one another and each of said portions having groundengaging means and an independent driving power source thereon includingthrottle control means regulating the amount of speed of the groundengaging means, pressure sensing means responsive to the speed of theground engaging means, valve means carried by the vehicle in controlledrelation by the sensing means vand including rst and second chamberscommunicating respectively with each pressure sensing means and having adischarge passage, a source of pressurized iluid communicating by way ofthe valve means with each of the throttle control means, each pressuresensing means expanding the respective chamber positioning the valvemeans for lterminating communication of one throttle control means withthe source of pressurized uid and opening the throttle control means tothe discharge passage to throttle down one of the power sources uponslippage of its respective ground engaging means.

3'. A vehicle comprising Ifront and rear portions articulatelyinterconnected on substantially a vertical axis for turning movements,cam means carried by one of the portions and valve means carried by theother portion, a drive train on each portion and a drive train powersource carried by each portion, each power source having throttlecontrol means, and sensing means responsive to the speed of the drivetrain operatively associated with the valve means, said valve meansbeing conditionable by said cam means and said sensing means responsiveto the speed of the drive train to preselectively control the throttlemeans of one of said power sources to throttle down said one of saidpower sources to facilitate turning `and to synchronize the speed of onedrive train to the speed of the other drive train wherein said vehiclehaving a source of pressurized uid communicating by way of the valvemeans with each throttle control means in the neutral position of saidvalve means, and the valve means having a discharge passage and having acam operated member having engagement with the cam means in anotherposition of the valve means blocking communication between the throttlecontrol means on the other portion and the iluid source and opening thethrottle control means on the other portion to the discharge passage,said valve means including first and second chambers communicatingrespectively with each sensing means, each sensing means expanding therespective chamber positioning the valve means for terminatingcommunication of one throttle control means with the source ofpressurized fluid and opening the -throttle control means to thedischarge passage.

4. The invention according to claim 2 and said throttling meansincluding Ia piston reciprocal within a cylinder communicating with thevalve means and the fluid source in the neutral position of the valvemeans and operatively connected to an associated engine fuel controlmeans.

5. The combination of a pair of self-propelled vehicular sections,throttle means for each section, output speed responsive means on eachsection, and coordinating means operative by said responsive means andoperative of the throttle means for advancing and retracting the same inresponse to the dictates of said responsive means, and said coordinatingmeans being provided with conduit means communicating with each outputspeed responsive means rand being provided with passage meanscommunicating with each throttle means, a source of lluid pressure beingin iluid communication with said coordinating means associated with thethrottling means and said coordinating means operable to selectivelycommunicate at least one of the throttle means with the source of uidpressure and means on the vehicle operatively associated with saidsource and operable to increase the fluid pressure for increasedactivity of the throttle means.

6. The combination of a pair of self-powered units interconnected forconjunctive operation, each of such units carrying an engine meansincluding pressure responsive throttle control means and engine outputspeed sensing means, a source of iluid under pressure and being providedwith conduit means normally communicable with each throttle controlmeans, pressure responsive valve means on the vehicle being operativelyconnected with the conduit means and being interposed in iluidobstructing relation between each of the throttle control means -and thesource of fluid, each of said sensing means being provided with passagemeans in iluid communica-tion with the valve means and conducting thevalve means to preselectively throttle down the engine means of one ofthe units for proportionalizing the output speed of each unit.

7. 'I'he combination of a pair of self-powered units interconnected forconjunctive operation, each of such units carrying an engine meansincluding pressure responsive throttle control means and engine outputspeed sensing means, a source of tiuid under pressure on the vehicle andnormally communicable with each throttle means, pressure responsivevalve means on the vehicle being interposed in uid obstructing relationbetween each of the throttle control means and the source of iluid, saidsensing means conditioning the valve means to preselectively throttledown the engine means of one of the units for proportionalizing theoutput speed of each unit, and a torque converter coupled to said enginemeans, the sensing means of each of the units being responsive tochanges in output speed of the torque converter and having a source ofuid variably pressurized by the changes in speed output and incommunication with the valve means.

, sensing means, a source of uid under pressure on the vehicle andnormally communicable with each throttle means, pressure responsivevalve means on the vehicle being interposed in uid obstructing relationbetween each of the Ithrottle control means and the source of fluid,vsaid -sensing means conditioning the valve means to preselectivelythrottle down the engine means of one of the units for proportionalizingthe output speed of each unit, the valves means including a pair ofchambers, a rst source of uid pressure communicable between one sensingmeans and one chamber and a second source of iluid pressure communicablebetween the other sensing means and the other chamber, a valve operatoroperably associated with each throttle control means, and flexible meansseparating the chambers and operatively connected to the valve operatorfor movement of the latter responsive to pressure uctuation in one ofthe chambers.

9. The combination of a pair of self-powered units interconnected forconjunctive operation, each of such units carrying an engine meansincluding pressure responsive throttle control means and engine outputspeed sensing means, a source of fluid under pressure on the vehicle andnormally communicable with each throttle means, pressure responsivevalve means on the vehicle being interposed in Huid obstructing relationbetween each of the throttle control means and the source of lluid, saidsensing means conditioning the valve means to preselectively throttledown the engine means of one of the units for proportionalizing theoutput speed of each unit, the valve mean-s including a valve cylinderhaving an annulus, a valve member reciprocal within the cylinder andhaving three lands, and porting means including a tirst conduit meansbetween the iirst and second land and communicating with one throttlecontrol means, and second conduit means between the second and thirdlands and communicating with the other throttle control means, and athird conduit means communicative between the annulus and the source ofnid pressure.

yl0. The combination of a pair of self-powered units interconnected forconjunctive operation, each of such units carrying an engine meansincluding pressure responsive throttle control means having a conduitand engine output speed sensing means having a passage, a source ofiluid under pressure operatively connected with each conduit for beingnormally communicable with each throttle control means, pressureresponsive means on the vehicle being operatively connected with eachconduit and being interposed in fluid obstructing relation between eachof the throttle control means and the source of tluid, each of saidsensing means having its passage in communication with the pressureresponsive means and conducting the pressure responsive means topreselectively throttle down the engine means of one of the units forproportionalizing the output speed of each unit.

ll. 'Ihe combination of a pair of self-powered units interconnected forconjunctive operation, each of such units carrying an engine meansincluding pressure responsive throttle control means having a conduitand engine output speed sensing means having a passage, a source ofliluid under pressure operatively connected with each conduit for beingnormally communicable with each throttle control means, pressureresponsive means on the vehicle being operatively connected with eachconduit and being interposed in iluid obstructing relation between eachof the throttle control means and the source of uid, each of saidsensing means having its passage in communication with the pressureresponsive means and conducting the pressure responsive means topreselectively throttle down the engine means of one of the units forproportionalizing the output speed of each unit, said pressureresponsive means comprising a valve arrange- 7 ment including a valvemember, and a flexible wall 2,406,944 Choate et al Sept. 3, 1946operatively associated with the member and separating 2,419,929 Wilcox vApr. 29, 1947 each passage from one another. 2,545,458 Ginn Mar. 20,1951 2,600,897 Mathias June 17, 1952 References Cited in the le of thispatent 5f 2,630,871 Simpkins Mar, 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENTS1,842,057 Young 1an, 19, 1932 2,103,274 Sanford Dec. 28, 1937

